The substantial socioeconomic importance of casuarinas (several members of the family Casuarinaceae) has ensured ongoing global interest in research and development of this group of nitrogen fixing trees. Plantings are invariably associated with agricultural systems and there are about 2 million ha planted in the tropics and sub-tropics, offering stability to fragile sandy coastal ecosystems and providing services of protection, soil organic matter, poles, fuel wood and commercial wood fiber. Following earlier successful international meetings in Canberra ( 1981) , Cairo ( 1990) and Da Nang ( 1996) , the 4thInternational Casuarina Workshop was held in Haikou, Hainan, People' s Republic of China, 21-25 March 2010. The objectives of the meeting were to update and collate cur-rent information and advances in the research and development of this interesting group of species, with particular reference to their impact on smallholder livelihoods, reflected in the title for the Workshop of: Improving smallholder livelihoods through improved casuarina productivity.
Publication year
2010
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
farming, food supply, soil fertility
Geographic
Malawi, Mali
